The Indian Nomad

Mumbai, the city that never sleeps is the most vibrant and lively place in India. You never feel as if the city is quiet and you are all alone in this maximum city. As a small town guy Mumbai excites me, frightens me, amuse me and guide me in various aspects of life. I have tried to create a list that what are those 11 things that any new Mumbaikar should do in the city. 1) Heritage Walk in Fort - Fort is one of those areas which was established during the British Era and stores the rich heritage and culture of Bombay. Any new person should definitely take a Heritage walk around the by lanes of the area . 2) Visit Religious places - Mumbai is hub of the Multi cultural cities of India. Bombay has those amazing religious sites which are really hard to miss. Probably because you will need the blessings of the all mighty most in this city than any other. Siddhi Vinayak Temple and Hazi Ali Dargah are most visited places, but you can also see the Zoroastrians Fire temples in the ...

Front side of Dargah The quest for untold and unusual places had brought us to a small village near Pune. The village called Shivapur is known for an unusual Dargah of a 15 th century saint named Qamar ali darvesh. Someone from the twitter world had shared an image about the place and from there only I came to know about the story behind it. Till then, I was not aware about this fascinating story. So, Shivapur has a Dargah of a saint named Qamar ali darvesh and apart from that Dargah it has a large stone in its complex. The story goes like this that whenever eleven people will try to lift the stone by their index finger shouting the name of Qamar ali darvesh. They would be able to lift the stone above their head and if there are more or less people trying the same thing they won’t be able to lift it up. A man trying to lift it all alone I don’t believe in these kinds of stories and decided to check that out. We reached Shivapur and easily found the Dargah. The...

The sun had embraced the sky and their blend had turned it into red. The Water in the sea had increased its association with the shores at the time we reached Arambol,  a village which is a Hippies Haven in Goa. In Eighties, Anjuna was used to be most preferred location for the Hippies. This was the case when Goa had not turned into present Touristic and crowded Goa. People from all over the world used to come for an affordable and peaceful holiday. But as local crowd increased its presence, either the hippies from Anjuna moved to a different place or they made it their permanent home. I came to know about Arambol from a fellow traveler who had lived in goa for 6 months and advised me to must visit Arambol for authentic goan feel. At first sight, it seems a quiet and peaceful beach where not much crowd comes but as sun starts to go down the horizon, you realize why it is that the hippies have made it their new home. The ambience turned it into such an exciting ...

A few months ago, one of my friends told me he has to apply for U.S. Visa, so he needs to go to Hyderabad for it. I was perplexed that why do he needs to go so far when he can easily apply from Pune. Then he mentioned a temple’s name in which he will pray to get U.S. Visa. Before that I had not heard about the place he mentioned, Chiklur Balaji which is a must stop for every Visa aspirant. Chiklur Balaji Mandir is a small temple located in the outskirts of Hyderabad. So, recently when I was in Hyderabad I decided to visit the place and try to find the story behind it. I reached Chiklur early morning to avoid crowds but there were already a lot people queuing to get in. Most of them seems city dwellers rather than mere villagers. Chiklur is located on the banks of Osman Sagar Lake. Quite Inquisitive I decided to explore the place and try to find this bizarre story which was connecting something superficial like a Visa to a spiritual deity. I met Mohan and his family who had c...

As my friends in India were supporting Portugal in FIFA World cup 2014, I traveled to India’s strongest connection to Portugal, Daman. This small Union territory borders with Gujarat and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. It turned out to be same as I had expected. The place is quite similar to its counterpart Goa, which was also a Portuguese colony but has a lot of unexplored places than Goa. It’s laid back beaches, Portuguese architecture buildings and awesome sea food has forced me to love the place. So, if you are planning to travel this small town, here are 5 things you should do here: 1) Take a walk in Moti Daman . Moti Daman is the old city of Daman situated around Moti Daman  Fort. The place has numerous Portuguese style buildings. These grand buildings which was once ruled by Portuguese is now been converted to Indian government offices. You can’t find people speaking Portuguese on road in any other part of Country but in Daman. The atmosphere has charm of ...

I was never a Wild life enthusiast till I got a chance to witness the serenity of a Jungle. Tadoba wild life Tiger reserve, one of India’s largest tiger reserve has around 60 Tigers including cubs. It is located in Chandrapur district in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra and nearest City would be Nagpur. It is an infinite treasure trove of innumerable species of trees and plants. The tribals and their mysteries will leave you unravelled and you will be mesmerized by stories of their forest deities. I am taking you on a Photo Journey of Tadoba which was captures by my friend cum Brother Santosh Pandey. Indian Magar- The sleeping Crocodile First Glimpse of the princess And She arrived.. We could only breath after she left A herd of Deer in search of their meal The Night watcher on duty Ready to fly.. The White socked Bison There are also Human ancestors out there – Langur The flora and fauna found deep ...

Relationship between Monsoon and Western Ghats is quite special. It is one of the first region of our country where monsoon hits after the scorching summer. As a result, many getaways have come up over the years in the Sahyadri. I am listing out my 5 favorite weekend getaways in Western Ghats which you should try this monsoon.                                                 Lonavala/ Khandala         There is a reason why Aamir khan asked Rani Mukherjee to come to Khandala. This small town on Mumbai-Pune highway is the most famous weekend getaway and you can feel its beauty only by being there.                                                               Matheran   ...